Drinking on a Monday is a short column where I share that one bottle that I open after the most dreadful of all weekdays.

Move over High Life, this is the real Champagne of Beers.

I’m a little surprised Brooklyn Brewery hasn’t made a push into the Los Angeles craft market at this point. They are certainly one of the bigger names on the East Coast and while I find their output a little hit and miss, overall its a decent brewery to welcome new people into the craft beer scene. Their core brands are simple and inoffensive, and I’ve certainly slung back my fair share of Brooklyn Lagers in my time. When I visited their facility for the first time in 2011, I grabbed a bottle of this Sorachi Ace Farmhouse and while I don’t remember much about the beer, I remember enjoying it, so during my recent trip to Vegas, I grabbed another from a local Whole Foods.

In a lot of ways, Sorachi Ace is a beer that is reflective of Brooklyn’s overall place in the beer scene. Its a very friendly farmhouse ale that hints at something a lot deeper but doesn’t go too far out of its way to impress or surprise you. Its a beginner’s farmhouse – but not like this new round of saison releases – its more a gateway farmhouse that will lead to funkier and funkier times ahead. The aroma is all lemon zest with hints of funk and its got a great light golden color. The head is quite honestly the lightest, frothiest head you can imagine and is quite active out of the bottle. Its got a pretty classic farmhouse flavor profile, with some light bready notes with the belgian yeast,slight hints of musty funk followed by that grassy lemon zest from the Sorachi Ace hops. If I didn’t know better I would have sworn this had some brett in it, but the bottle claims its finished with champagne yeast, which could definitely be playing a trick on me. Its that yeast that completely dries this beer out and gives it a lovely finish.

This is a beer that you could pound pretty easily. Its light and delicate but that Sorachi Ace backbone really makes it satisfying. We don’t get this one very often out here, so if you see it make sure you pick it up. I’ll definitely be grabbing a couple next time I’m in Nevada.